For Board of Health consideration is whether to revise the District’s 18-year-old policy contained in Resolution 01-06 regarding reimbursement for attendance at various Health District meetings. Specific issues for consideration include:

1. The dollar amount to be reimbursed

2. Which meetings qualify for reimbursement

3. Meeting times

4. Whether telephonic participation qualifies for reimbursement

5. How reimbursement is processed

6. When fulltime electeds qualify for reimbursement.

At the May 22 Administration and Executive Committee meetings, the committees requested information on how other comparable Boards reimburse their members for attendance at meetings. Currently, under Res. 01-06, members are reimbursed at the rate of $55 per meeting. At the June meetings, the committees requested numbers comparing the current dollar amount paid ($55) vs. a different dollar amount per meeting ($75 and $90). They also requested clarification on part-time vs. fulltime electeds and how they’re paid.

Under Article VII of the Health District Charter (Exhibit A), it does not differentiate between part-time and fulltime elected officials, nor does it state a specific dollar amount. It simply states that “Board members shall be reimbursed a flat fee designated as a reimbursement for travel, meal, and incidental expenses ...” However, Res. 01-06 (Exhibit B) states that “... such reimbursement shall not be available to members of the Board who are elected to serve on a full-time basis, and as such, are salaried on a full-time basis by the respective council or governing authority to which they have been elected and from which they are appointed to the Board of Health.” It further states that fulltime electeds, however, “shall be entitled to such expense reimbursement when a meeting occurs in the evening or on weekends or holidays.”

Staff was asked to contact other agencies to find out what other boards are paid. Staff reached out to Grant County Public Health, Kitsap Public Health District, Seattle-King County Public Health, Spokane Regional Health District, and Tacoma-Pierce County Public Health, as well as Community Transit. Results are shown in Exhibit C. In summary, four of the five public health agencies contacted do not pay their board members to attend meetings. The exception is Tacoma-Pierce County (TPCPH). TPCPH pays $75 per full board meeting for part-time elected officials. They do not pay for ad hoc or task force meetings. Community Transit pays $90 per board meeting for those who are part-time elected officials (full-time elected officials do not receive compensation).

In 2018, the Health District paid Board of Health members for a total of 185 meetings. Of those, 102 were full Board meetings, 65 were committee meetings (Administrative, Executive, and Program Policy), and 18 were task force or ad hoc meetings. To provide a comparison, staff used 2018 actuals to calculate the dollar amounts for different scenarios.

Using the 2018 total number of all paid meetings (185), the chart below shows actual vs. two other scenarios:

Below are the numbers if in 2018 the Health District paid part-time electeds only for attendance at full Board meetings plus the three committees (Admin, Executive, Program Policy) (167):

Below are the numbers if in 2018 the Health District paid part-time electeds for attendance at full Board meetings only (102):

At its Sept. 25 meeting, the Administration Committee discussed several issues, including if “full-time salaried” needs clarification, if signed vouchers are needed for auditing purposes, if a stipend helps us to reach a quorum, and if the amount should be the same for those who attend over the phone. At their Oct. 23 meeting, the committee recommended this item go to the full Board for further discussion.

Staff prepared a draft resolution (Exhibit D), as a starting point for Board discussion. The numbered list following "Now, therefore," in the resolution suggests options that could be considered by the Board, but all are open to further discussion. These are: the amount paid per meeting; which meetings qualify for payment; if telephonic participation is paid, and, if so, is it the same as in-person participation; separation requirement between meetings; and full-time vs. part-time Board member payment.

RCW 70.05.060 – Powers and duties of local board of health; Health District Charter

No action required. Briefing and discussion only.